Illuminated sign



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lNI/ENTOR rillmvllllllllllllllllll ATTORNEYS Patented dan.. 1, 1924..

@NHT STATS FTNT @FFHQQ PAUL SCH'UYLER VAN BLOEM, 0F HEMPSTEAD, NEW YORK, SSIGNOR TO THE Il. IG PRODUCTS CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

. ILLUMINATED SIGN.

v Application filed Gctober 10, 1922. SeriallNo. 593,588.

. To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL S. VAN BLOEM, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Hempstead, in the county of Nassau and 5 State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Illuminated Signs, of which the following is a specification.

One of the main objects of this invention 1o is to provide an illuminated sign having a thinbody part adapted to hold the characters of the sign, and a largertop or head 'pertion designed to receive a source of light, such4 as an electric bulb, by means of which the sign characters are illuminated. The

narrow body part of the sign is so constructed that the light rays from the source of illumination, arranged in the enlarged head, pass into and through the sign characters both directly and indirectly, a suitable reector being arranged in the -body part of the sign to receive and reflect the light rays and to direct them throughthe sign characters to be illuminated. The sign characters are preferably molded glass letters inserted in and displayed through an opaque stencil plate. These glass letters are preferably formed in accordance with Patent No. 1,311,472, dated July 29, 1919, but of course it will be understood that any form of glass letters may-be used.

There are other objects and advantages of the invention which will hereinafter apear.

In the drawings Fig.V 1 is a perspective view of a sign constructed in accordancev with this invention;

Fig. 2 a vertical transverse sectional View thereof;

Fig. 3 a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 a vertical longitudinal sectional View taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;v

Fig. 5 a perspective view of 'a slightly modified form of the invention;

6 a -vertical transverse sectional view of the device shown in Fig. 5; f Fig. 7 a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 a detail longitudinal sectional View v of one end of the sign taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 a detail elevation of the door which receive the electric light bulb 6.

closes one end of the body part of the sign shown in Fig. 5.

Referring to the various parts by' numerals, 1 designates .the narrow vertical body part of the sign and 2 the enlarged upper end or head thereof, these two parts being rigidly and firmly connected together and the head being in the form of an ornamental molding to give the sign a pleasing appearance. The body part of the sign conil,4?9,435 y sists of av rectangular open frame having side `walls 3. The side walls forming the ends and the bottom of the body part of the sign are connected by rigid transverse walls 4 to form a channel frame having its anges turned inwardly. rlhe upper side walls 3 extend up into the head portion 2 and are rigidly secured therein. These upper side walls are not connected together so that the upper end 'of the body part of the sign opens directly into the hollow head portion 2. The head portion is formed of sheet metal and is suitably shaped as an ornamental molding and forms a chamber 5 adapted-to These bulbs may be of any suitable form and are preferably located directly above the. center of the body part of the sign. As shown in Fig. 4 these light bulbs are long narrow tubes located directly above the longitudinal center of the sign lso that the light rays therefrom willbe directed downwardly into the hollow body part of the sign through the open upper end thereof. In the chamber 5 of the head portion 2, at each end thereof, supporting plates 7 are arranged, and on these supporting plates are mounted the electric lamp sockets 8. The top of the head portion 2 is closed by a horizontal wall 9 and a removable cover 10 which closes a 1 large longitudinally extending openingin the said top wall 9. The cover 10 is formed with marginal anges 11 which are adapted to fit down in corresponding grooves formed The purpose of this is to ets access may be had to the entire interior plates, as will be hereinafterdescribed.

The opening in the front ofthe sign is closed by removable opaque stencil plate 12.

' This stencil plate is cut out to receive .the

-ner side of the s tencil plate.

glass sign characters 13. As shown ,in the drawings these sign characters are in the forni of letters, each letter having an individual back plate le adapted to bear directly against the inner side of the stencil plate.

Each letter is secured in position on the Stencil plate by readily bendable metal fingers 15 which are Arigidly secured to the inrhe stencil plate is held in position against the front walls 3 by means of vertically extending flanges 16 secured to the end walls 4 of the body part of the sign. The rear side. of the body of the sign is closed by an opaque late 17; and said plate is held in position by means of vertical flanges 18 which are secured to the end walls 4 of the body part of the sign. The stencil plate and the opaque back plate may be readily inserted in and removed from the sign body through the opening in the top wall of the head portion. The lower ends of the stencil plate and of the back plate are held tightly against the walls 3 at the bott-om of the sign body by means' of transverse springs 19. The purpose of this is to prevent any possibility of light rays escaping from the sign r body around the bottom edges of these plates. Secured to the inner side of the plate 17 is a downwardly curved reflector plate 20, the lower portion of said reflector eing curved toward the front wall of the sign and the yupper portion of said reflector being secured flat against the plate 17. The purpose of `this reflector plate is to divert the light rays from the source of illumination and direct them outwardly through the glass letters so that said letters will be illuminated to a large extent by indirect rays. These letters' will also be illuminated to a certainextent by direct rays from the source vof light, said direct rays passing directly into the body ofthe glass letters and, because of the construction of the letters, said rays will be deflected and caused to pass outwardly through the characters which project. throu h the opaque stencil plate. lt is manifest tiat by drawing the opaque back plate 17 upwardly from the b'ody part of the sign access may be had to the sign characters through the open rear wall of the sign. lt is also manifest that when the sign characters have been removed from the stencil plate, the said plate may be removed from the sign body` by drawing it upwardly through the sign portion 2. i

1t is manifest that instead of forming th hollow head portion at the top of the sign increase it may be formed at the bottom thereof and serve as a sign base, or it may be formed at either end thereof.

A sign constructed in accordance with the foregoing has many advantages. lt is pleasing in appearance; the source of light is wholly concealed in an ornamental molding which is also pleasing in appearance and gives an artistic and proportional finish to the sign. The illuminationof the sign characters is effective without the source of illamination being evident.

lf desired the sign characters may be colored'on the rear side of their supporting flanges 14, or the reflector plate itself may be colored. y

As shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, one

end of the sign body is made in the form of a door 21 which is hinged at its upper end 22 to the lower edge of the head portion of the sign. The hinged door is formed with side flanges 23 which when the door is closed complete the rear and front walls of the body part of the sign. is swung t-o its upper open position, as illustratcd in Fig. 8, the entire end of the sign body is open and the stencil plates and reflectors may be withdrawn from the sign body through said opening. The lower end of the door is formed with a horizontal flange 24 which is adapted to fit under the bottom wall of the sign body; and a screw 25 is provided in said -iange'to lock the door in its closed position. This screw is caused to bear on the bottom wall of the sign body in order to lock the door in place.

Instead of using a single stencil plate and an opaque back plate, as illustrated in Fig. 2, two stencil plates may be used so that a sign may be displayed at the front and rear of the -sign body, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. ln this arrangement of the sign the reflector is arranged between the two stencil plates along the longitudinal center of the sign bod As shown in Figs. 6 and 7 this central duplex reflector 26 is brought to a thin edge at its upper end and curved outwardly at its lower end. lts lower end is guided by guide way 27 mounted in the lower corners of the sign body. rlhis rellector plate is adapted to be drawn outwardly through the sign body when the door 21 is open. Y

What 1 claim is:

1. An illuminated sign comprising a narrow hollow body part having an open horizontal end and closedv light tight at all of its other ends, a hollow ornamental molding entirely surrounding and connected to the open horizontal end of thebody part the said molding forming a light chamber opening into the hollow body part throughout substantially the length of said body part, an electric lamp removably mounted in the light chamber, the said chamber having an 1When this door l rearwardly from the stencil plate and lsubstantially parallel thereto and adapted to divert the ligh trays outwardly through the sign characters, and parallel guides within the body part through which the stencil plate and the reiiector are adapted to be wi hdrawn edgewise in the same direction.

2. An illuminated sign comprising a narrow hollow body part open at its upper end and closed light tight at all of its other ends, a light chamber formed as an ornamental molding connected to the sign body at its open upper end, a lamp socket fixed in the light chamber, an electric lamp removably mounted in the said socket, the said light chamber having anopening over said lamp adapted to give access to it, a movable light tight closure for the said openin a slidably ,removable opaque stencil plate orming one wall of the body part,transparent sign characters mounted in saidstencil plate, anda reiiector mounted in the body part and arranged to divert the light rays through theV sign characters, the said reiector being slidably removable in the same direction as the stencil plate.

3. An illuminated sign comprising a nari row hollow body part formed of a channel frame open at its upper end, a hinged door forming one vertical end of said channel frame, a light chamber connected to the sign body at its open upper end and adapted to contain a source of light whereby the rays from the said source'of light may pass directly into the body part, slidably removable opaque stencil plates mounted in the hollow body lpart to close the sides thereof, transparent vcharacters mounted in said plates, guides secured upon the inner sides of the body part and engaging the upper and lower edges of the stencil plates to support them in place, and a slidably removableduplex reilector adapted tol divert the light rays through the sign characters, ,the said reflector being disposed vertically between the stencil plates and su ported at its lower end by the lower guides or thestencil plates, the said stencil plates and the reflector being removable endwise through the said guides when the said hinged door is opened.

4. An illuminated sign comprising a narlrowv hollow body part formed of a channel frame and having an open horizontal end, a hinged door forming one vertical end of said channel frame, a hollow ornamental molding the open said molding forming a light chamber openT ing into the hollow body part throughout substantially the length of an electric lamp removably mounted inthe light chamber, the said chamber having an opening therein adapted to give access to the lamp, a movable light tight closure for said opening, slidably removable opaque stencil plates adapted to be inserted in the hollowl body part to parent characters mounted 'in said stencil plates, and a slidably removable duplex relector mounted in the body part substantially centrally thereof and arranged to divert the light rays through the sign characters, the said stencil plates and the reector being r ovable edgewise when the said hinged d oil is open.

In testimony whereof I hereunto'aix my signature.

PAUL SCHUYLER VAN BLGEM.

entirely surrounding and connected to s horizontal end of the body part, the

said body part,

close the sides thereof, trans- 

